Gone
by Captain Splendid
Summary: Jack goes out into the jungle and doesn't come back. Will Kate ever see him again? Starts out angsty but gets lighter as we go. Rated for some language later on.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everybody! This is my first fanfiction attempt. It's a Jack/Kate romance story, because I love them with all of my Jate shipper heart! So enjoy!**

* * *

Jack was gone. 

Kate thought about it as she sat on the beach, staring solemnly at the waves. She had no idea if he was hurt, or lost, or even alive. He was just…gone. Plain and simple.

Two weeks had passed since she had last seen him.

_Island life was going surprisingly smoothly. The polar bears and the mysterious _thing_ that was traipsing around the jungle, picking people off, had seemingly lost interest in the camp. The castaways generally didn't venture into the jungle alone, but the "magic forest," as Sawyer had so lovingly named it, didn't seem quite as scary anymore, and solo trips were becoming more and more frequent. _

_It was on this day– possibly a Tuesday, but who the hell knew anymore? –that Locke decided to have a hunt. The survivors had gathered on the beach, and Locke made his announcement. They were running out of food, and "After all," he said, using a rock to sharpen one of his many knives, "it's not as if the boar are going to hunt themselves." There was much eye-rolling after this statement, but the hunt had been organized nonetheless. Locke made it clear that this was going to be an all-day hunting trip, being as the boar had moved far away from their camp; they would probably have to venture into new territory in order to find one. Jack, being one of the few people still wary about letting anyone venture into the "heart of darkness" alone, volunteered to accompany Locke, along with Charlie, who was "sick of this sodding beach." Upon their request to join him, Locke sighed, gave one of his creepy I-know-something-you-don't-know half-smiles, and agreed. _

_Moments later, Jack was kneeling in the sand, tightening the laces of his now worn and dirty sneakers, when Kate wandered up to him with a grin on her face._

"_Hey Jack."_

_Jack looked up from where he was crouched down with a slight grimace, as if he was dreading whatever the hell this sure-to-be-neurotic castaway wanted the doctor to look at now, but his face slide into an easy smile upon seeing that Kate was the person greeting him. _

"_Hey Kate. What's up?" Jack stood now, and leaned over Locke's suitcase of knives, searching for one that he liked. _

"_Oh, nothing. It's just, I heard that Locke was having a hunt. And that you were going with him. _You_. Are going _hunting_. What's up with that?" Kate's grin had turned into a teasing smirk now as she watched the look on Jack's face turn to mock-annoyance. _

"_Oh, so now I can't hunt?" Jack stood up straight, having chosen a knife and tucked it into his belt, and looked down at her with the smile that she was sure nobody except her was privileged too. He continued on with his charade, putting a hand over his heart for dramatic effect, and pretended to be emotionally wounded. "Here I am, busting my ass all day long, and I finally find something stress-relieving to go do, and then you come along, laughing at me. A guy can only take so much of this abuse, Kate." He pouted now, and it was all Kate could do to not reach up and ruffle his short hair. _

"'_Stress-relieving'?" She looked at him incredulously, a hint of a smile still on her face. "Throwing knives at things is stress relieving?"_

"_Sure. I can take any anger I have out on the boar. That way, when I come back, I'll be slightly more relaxed than I am now, and we'll have food. Kill two birds with one stone." He grinned "It's better than my _first_ stress-relieving idea, anyway." _

"_And what idea was that, Jack?"_

"_Throw the knife at Sawyer," he replied, straight-faced and without missing a beat. Kate burst out laughing, and Jack let out a chuckle, enjoying that he had been the one to make her so happy, even if it was only for a moment. _

_Once Kate had calmed down somewhat, she smiled up at him, squinting slightly in the early-morning sunlight. She knew that he had been kidding about the whole "throw the knife at Sawyer" thing. In fact, Jack and Sawyer weren't enemies anymore...not really, anyway. Jack still got pissed off at Sawyer a lot, and Sawyer still teased Jack any chance he got, but the two of had eased into some strange form of friendship. Which Kate was glad of. She hated being in the middle of them since, after all, Sawyer was her friend and Jack was her...well, Kate didn't really know what Jack was. She wished that she could say 'boyfriend', as immature as that sounded, but she knew he really wasn't. She considered him her best friend, and he often protected her in a fierce, almost older-brotherly way. She'd be lying if she told herself that she didn't feel anything for him, and she was pretty sure that he felt something for her, but he was often difficult to read. There just didn't seem to be a word to describe their relationship. _

"_Umm, Kate. Hello? Are you still with me?" Jack waved his hand in front of her face, looking at her with concern. _

_Kate shook herself from her thoughts, and smiled at Jack again. "Yeah, I'm good. I just zoned out for a minute."_

"_Right, because that _never_ happens!" Jack laughed as she smacked him on the arm for his teasing comment, then looked at her curiously. What had she been thinking about just then? She looked a million miles away, but Jack couldn't help but hope that she had been a bit closer to home and thinking about him. He mentally chastised himself for his sappy thoughts, and then turned his attention back to the girl standing in front of him, planning on asking her what, or who, had put her so deep in thought._

_Just as Jack opened his mouth, Charlie's booming voice came from across the beach, cutting him off._

"_Come on, Jack! Locke says if we don't come now, he's gonna leave us behind, and lounging on this bloody beach is getting really old! I need some adventure in my life, mate! Stop flirting with your girlfriend and let's go!" He then looked to Claire, who smacked him lightly on the back of the head for embarrassing their friends. Charlie gave an exaggerated yelp of pain, which woke a sleeping Aaron. The baby started wailing in Claire's arms, earning Charlie another cuff about the head._

_Jack smiled slightly and shook his head at Charlie's antics, then turned back to Kate, noticing that she was blushing faintly. He found that this made him much happier than it probably should have. _

"_Guess I'd better go, before Charlie has a heart attack. Being the doctor and all, I'd be kind of responsible for taking care of that. And I'd rather not. So I'll see you later, okay? We should be back later tonight, most likely after dark."_

_At this statement, Kate's smile faded away. "Alright, yeah. I'll see you later." Kate was subdued now, with a pensive look on her face, and Jack noticed the sudden change in her behavior. It was like she wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words. _

"_Kate? You okay?" He looked at her, concerned._

"_Yeah, I'm fine. Just...promise you'll be careful, and that you'll come back in one piece, okay?"_

"_What? I mean, yeah. Sure. I'll be fine, Kate. We're just going hunting." Jack was really confused now. "Kate, what's wrong?" he asked softly. "We've gone into the jungle hundreds of times. I'll be back later tonight."_

_Kate didn't know what the matter with her was. She had gotten this irrational fear, all of a sudden, that something bad was going to happen. "I know. I just...worry about you, I guess. I don't want you to get hurt. So...promise?"_

_He looked at her, and realized that when she was looking at him, like that, he would never be able to say no. "I promise," he said firmly. He had never meant any two words more in his life. _

"_Okay," she whispered. "Okay." Then, after a moment of internal struggle, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him softly on the cheek._

_Jack, to his credit, handled his shock over this move quite well, looking both surprised and pleased. Very pleased. _

_Kate barely managed to back away without throwing her arms around him and begging him not to leave. She didn't know what the hell was going on with her today. It was just a hunt, right? Why was she acting like she would never see him again?_

_Jack, for his part, was tempted to pull Kate close, tell her 'screw it all, let somebody else go hunting,' and bury his face in her hair, but he could tell from the look on her face that she was just as confused as he was. So instead, he smiled at her reassuringly and grabbed her hand, squeezing it once with his, then let it drop. "I'll see you later," he whispered. "_I promise_." He walked a few steps backwards, smiling. "After all, what could possibly go wrong, right?" She smiled slightly in return, and then he turned and walked across the beach towards Charlie and Locke. _

_Kate watched as Jack reached the other two, and heard him apologize for keeping them waiting. She smiled as Charlie said something to Jack with a smirk on his face, and then laughed at how Jack playfully shoved him in response to what had most likely been a comment about Kate and Jack's public display of affection. If it could even be called that. _

_Then, the three of them started into the jungle, with Jack throwing one more glance in her direction, a bright and reassuring smile on his face._

_Kate spent the rest of the day worrying about Jack. Every time she found something to distract herself with, it was mere moments until his voice drifted back through her head._

'_What could possibly go wrong?'_

_The truth was, a lot of things. But Kate told herself that she was being silly, that Jack was right, he would be fine. And then she moved on to find something else to do to pass the time that was dragging by so slowly. _

_Finally, evening came, and Kate found herself watching the sunset with Claire, who was holding a sleeping Aaron. _

"_They should be back soon, right? I mean, Charlie said they would be back by dark. Shouldn't they be back?" Claire's voice was laced with worry. She was battling the same irrational fears that Kate was- What if something had happened to them? _

_Kate didn't have it in her to worry Claire with the knowledge that the guys..._their_ guys might not be back till the middle of the night, so she remained silent. Every other minute, she looked up and scanned the beach, hoping for a glimpse of Jack's tall figure striding towards them. _

_Finally, Claire gave a shout, pointing towards the edge of the jungle, and sure enough, there were Locke and Charlie. Kate smiled and stared at the spot where they had emerged from the trees, waiting for Jack to come into view. He didn't. Two minutes passed, and still he didn't show up._

"_Wait, where's Jack?" Claire voiced Kate's inner thoughts as the smile slid off of her face. She got up and headed towards Charlie and Locke. As she got closer to them, she realized that something was wrong. They had no boar, and both looked dirty and excessively tired. But what Kate noticed most was their faces...both men's expressions were solemn...even Charlie's. And he was _always_ happy. _

_Kate broke into a run, sprinting towards them in a panic. A million questions flew through her mind, a million different things to ask them, but when Kate reached the two men, she found that she was only capable of asking one thing._

"_Where is he?"_

_From the look on Charlie's face, Kate knew that she wasn't going to like the answer.

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**Reviews are nice!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here it is. Chapter 2! Yay me! Lol! Thanks so much to my super-fantastic reviewers. Your comments have been so nice, and it's good to know that people are enjoying my first story. Thank you!**

**So here we go. This picks up right where the last chapter left off, so if you don't remember, I suggest going back and reading the end of Chapter 1. Or not. Whatever floats your proverbial boat.**

**Oh, and just in case it wasn't obvious in the last chapter, sections in italics are flashbacks. It seemed clear to me, but I just want to make sure there's no confusion amongst the ranks– meaning you guys.**

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_Kate's question was greeted with an uneasy silence. Charlie shifted from foot to foot, muttering so that Kate couldn't understand a word of what he said, and Locke excused himself, saying that he had "business to attend to" and that he'd let Charlie take care of things here._

_In that moment, Kate could have killed them both. _

"_Charlie!" Kate, not receiving any explanation, was getting really worried now. "Where the hell is Jack? Why didn't he come back with you?"_

_Charlie cowered slightly and looked to Claire, who had just arrived by his side with Aaron. He appeared to be looking for a way out, as though he didn't want to be the one to break whatever news that he had to Kate, but Claire wasn't giving him any relief. "Charlie," she whispered, "where's Jack?"_

_Charlie, seeing that there was no escape, began speaking hesitantly. "Well, you see, the fact of the matter is...we don't really know. He sort of...vanished...right after the, umm, the gunshots."_

"_The _what_! Gunshots? Who was shooting? You just left him? _Is he okay_!" Kate was frantic now, filled with a fear that she hadn't known existed until that moment. "Charlie, I swear to God- and I don't even believe in God -that if you don't tell me where he is, right now, I am going to hurt you. What. The. Hell. Happened?" Kate had tears in her eyes and Claire reached over to put an arm around her friend as Charlie reluctantly began his story._

"_Well...we were walking through the jungle when it happened. Locke and Jack were arguing, as usual, about where the best place to look for boar was. Locke wanted to head over towards the northern shore, wherever the hell that is, and Jack wanted to stick closer to the places we already know; you know how he is- he didn't want us to get lost. Kind of ironic isn't it, beings as he's the one we can't find-"_

"_Charlie!" At the girls' yell, Charlie jumped, apologized for digressing, and then continued the story._

"_Anyway, I told them both to shut up the hell up, since they were being so loud that anyone could have heard them. I wasn't too keen on a meeting with The Others, or Rousseau, or the polar bear, or any of the other insane things that frolic through the bloody jungle of doom. But I guess I should have told them to be quiet sooner, because all of a sudden, some nutter started shooting at us."_

_Claire gasped, tightening her hold on Kate, who had a look of terror on her face. Charlie, realizing that they were speechless, continued the story again. _

"_So after the second or third shot, Jack yelled for us to run and we all took off in the same direction, dodging bullets, but we got separated after a few minutes. I must have been running for miles, my feet hurt so badly, and I got pretty turned around...sodding trees all look the same. It was a good hour before Locke and I met up again. He said that he had followed my trail and that it led him straight to me, but that he couldn't pick up where Jack had gone. We spent a few hours looking for him, shouting his name and stuff...but he never turned up. So we came back." Charlie, having finished speaking, looked at Kate fearfully._

_There was a pause, and then Kate broke the silence. "Who...who was shooting at you, Charlie?" She wasn't sure that she wanted to know the answer, but she was going to have to find out eventually._

_Charlie sighed. "I have no bloody clue. We didn't get a glimpse of the guy. It could have been anyone."_

_Kate was silent now, tears streaming swiftly down her face. "We need to go find him," she finally choked out. She didn't care that it was dark, or that it was too dangerous, or that if Jack were here, this would be exactly the type of thing he'd tell her not to do. She just needed to find him._

"_Kate, you can't go out there now." Claire was looking at her friend with worry, knowing the dangerous thoughts that were running through the devastated woman's mind. "We'll send a search party out tomorrow."_

"_Yeah, Kate." Charlie quickly agreed. "Locke's already got it all planned out. That's why he scurried away so quickly...he's gathering up people to help us find Jack. Him and me and Sawyer and Sayid and anyone else who'll come...and let's face it, everyone's gonna want to help...I mean, it's _Jack_. So we're gonna go first thing tomorrow morning, as soon as the sun comes up, okay?" Charlie spoke softly, trying to calm Kate down._

_It had the opposite effect. Kate exploded. "Okay! No, it is not _okay_! Charlie, Jack is out there, in the middle of the jungle, alone! We have no idea where he is! You want to wait until morning? That's hours from now! He could be hurt! What if he fell and hit his head on a rock or something? He could be bleeding to death as we speak! The Others could have him! Hell, he could have fallen off a cliff! So, no! It is not okay, and I won't calm down! Because Jack isn't here!" She broke down in sobs, leaning against Claire's comforting embrace. "And I don't know what I'm going to do if he doesn't come back." _

_Charlie and Claire looked at each other sadly, not knowing how to reassure Kate. They could merely listen to her cry and hope that wherever Jack was, he was okay._

"_He has to come back," Kate sobbed. "He _has_ to. He promised."_

* * *

But he hadn't come back. They had sent out search party after search party, and not one hint of Jack's trail could be found. Each search team had come back more discouraged than the last; many had given up hope of him ever returning. After all, it had been two whole weeks to the day, and Jack had vanished without a trace.

Kate spent every minute of the day thinking about him, which was better than the nights, when she dreamed the worst thing possible- she dreamed that he had come back. There he would be, unscathed and happy; they would hold each other tightly, and Kate would swear she'd to never let go, and Jack would promise to never leave her again. And while Jack coming home was what Kate wished for more than anything, waking up and realizing that he wasn't there, that it had all been a very realistic dream, was like loosing him all over again. So after a week, she gave up trying to sleep altogether. A quick nap here or there was all she could manage, and even then, she woke up shaking, visions of Jack's face burned under her eyelids.

* * *

It was midday, and Kate was sitting where she was every day since he had been gone...in the sand, a short walk through some trees and down the beach in the direction where nobody ever really went. The small cove where she was seated was secluded from the rest of the shore, and incredibly peaceful; even the waves seemed to break quieter there. It was her special spot- _their_ spot, she corrected in her head. Not just hers- it was Jack's too. It was their spot…

_Jack picked his way through some trees, sighing when he scratched his arm on a small branch that was jutting out. '_Fucking jungle_,' he thought. He snapped off the offending twig and stomped on it, just for good measure. _

_Jack was a bit stressed out. Not really mad or anything, just...tired. He needed a break. An escape. And so he was headed to the only place where he knew that he could be alone. His spot. Not that he had posted a sign with his name on it or anything, but he was pretty sure that no one else knew about it, and it's where he went when he needed to get away from it all. _

_Emerging from the trees, Jack squinted a bit at the change in sunlight; as his eyes readjusted, he found himself looking at another person who had their back to him, knapsack and water bottle at their side. '_Fuck_.' He should have posted that sign._

_Walking closer, Jack recognized Kate as the person who's back he was staring at. He was taken aback by the realization that he didn't mind having her there._

_Walking around in front of where Kate was leaning back on her hands, Jack smirked, seeing that her eyes were closed and that she hadn't heard him coming. _

"_You're in my spot!" He laughed, watching Kate jump and her eyes fly open, surprised by the sudden noise._

"_Jack! You scared the crap out of me!" Kate glared playfully at Jack, who was grinning, proud of himself for having startled her. "And what do you mean, _your_ spot? I was here first." _

_Jack shook his head. "Were not. I come here all the time."_

"_So do I."_

_They mock glared at each other, but after a minute, both had broken into laughter over their childlike behavior. Jack sighed, then pitched himself down into the sand next to her. "Guess we'll have to share it then." '_Not that I'm complaining_,' he added mentally._

"_Fine. But it's still more my spot than it is yours." She smirked, and Jack shook his head, amused by her need to always have the last word. _

_She gave him a smile, and then turned her head back to the ocean. Jack, groaning slightly at his sore muscles, lay back on the sand, eyes closed and hands linked behind his head. They were like that for a while, Jack dozing and Kate staring at the water, her sneaking the occasional glance at his relaxed face. '_It's nice having her here_,' Jack thought to himself. '_Peaceful, but not lonely. And still nice and quiet._'_

"_Jack."_

'So much for that,_' he thought, though he couldn't find it in his heart to be fully annoyed with her._

"_Hey Jack?"_

_He sighed. "Hey Kate?" Jack smiled slightly, eyes still closed, knowing that she would be rolling her eyes at his mocking response. _

"_How come you like this spot?"_

"_Why do you ask?"_

"_I was just curious. I know that I come here to think, but why would the hero doctor need to sit and think? Or even relax. You should be able to keep going and going all day long. To hell with resting. So I guess what it comes down to is that, frankly, I'm appalled by your current display of laziness." Even though he couldn't see her face, Jack could hear the laughter in Kate's voice and knew that she was teasing him. _

_Jack, fighting to keep the smile off his face, gave his answer as though speaking to a very young child. "Well Kate, even us super-humans need to rest, just like you mere mortals; I know that it's a hard concept to grasp, so I wouldn't expect you to understand. And," he added, breaking his fake show of superiority, "it is too fucking hot to be doing anything else except lie here." Which was true. It was at least 100 degrees, and he knew that back at camp, Shannon and Sawyer were complaining about what the humidity was doing to their lovely hair._

_Kate laughed at his answer, grinning over the fact that he still had his eyes closed; she had an idea. "Well Jack," she started sweetly, "you should just find a way to cool off."_

_He gave a small chuckle. "Oh yeah? You have any suggestions? Found an air conditioning unit yet?"_

"_No." She reached behind her, grabbing her nearly full water bottle, and screwed of the top. "But you could try _this_!" And with that, Kate dumped the entirety of the water on Jack's face and neck._

_Jack gave a yelp, spluttering on the surprisingly cold water, and shot up from his relaxed position, eyes no longer closed. "Kate, what the hell!"_

_Kate, who by now was doubled over in laughter, chanced a look up at him, which only made her laugh harder. Jack was soaked, t-shirt completely wet and his dark hair sticking up in all directions. _

_Jack watched Kate laugh at him, hint of a smile playing on his face. Oh, he would have his revenge. _

"_So that's how it's gonna be," he said quietly. "I see how it is."_

_Kate looked up at hearing his voice, still in hysterics. Jack sounded strangely calm and he had a mischievous glint in his eye that she hadn't ever seen before. Meeting her gaze, he stared at her for a second, as if sizing her up, then glanced meaningfully at the ocean. Kate stopped laughing abruptly and gazed at him in slight disbelief. "You wouldn't."_

_Jack smirked. "I would." _

"_You'd better not."_

"_And what if I do?" Jack was only messing with her at this point, not having decided yet if he was going to follow through with his threat._

"_I'll be mad." Jack laughed, clearly not fazed. _

"_Jack, don't you dare. I mean it. I don't want to get wet."_

_That sealed her fate._

"You don't want to get wet_? Guess you should have thought of that before soaking _me_, huh?" Laughing, Jack dove at Kate, and though she tried to dodge it, he was faster. Flinging her unceremoniously over his right shoulder, Jack started sprinting towards the water, laughing all the way._

"_JACK! Jack...c'mon! Please? Jack, put me down!" Kate's shrieks were hampered by her laughter as she pounded on his back with her fists, screaming and pleading as she kicked her legs. "Jack Shephard, if you get me wet, I'm going to kill you!"_

_Jack ignored her and ran into the surf, grinning like an idiot. When the water reached about waist height, he threw Kate in and, laughing hysterically, dove in after her._

_When Kate finally made it up to the surface, Jack was there, looking adorable and gazing innocently at her. "See, it's not so much fun when someone gets you all wet, is it?" But even Jack didn't believe the words coming out of his mouth, judging from the beaming smile on his face._

_Kate quickly wiped the water out of her eyes and grinned before launching herself at him in a football-style tackle, sending them both under the water again in a tangle of arms and legs._

_They came up spluttering and laughing and, having drifted out to where the water was quite deep, were forced to tread in order to stay afloat. _

_Jack smiled happily and looked over at Kate, noticing that she had a slightly nervous look on her face. "Hey? You okay?" he asked softly._

"_What? Oh...yeah, I'm fine. It's just...the water's kinda deep out here." She moved closer to him, grabbing his shoulder tightly when the tide jerked them a bit. "I've never been out in an ocean this far before. It's kind of...scary."_

_Jack laughed softly. "Yeah, it is, isn't it? I used to go to the beach a lot though, so I'm used to it." Then, seeing her tense up, he turned and saw the large wave coming towards them. She gripped his hand tightly._

"_Jaaaack..."_

"_Kate it'll be fine. Just hang onto my hand, okay? Hold your breath and go right under the wave."_

"Under _it? Jack, are you out of your mind?"_

_He smiled. "Probably. But just trust me."_

_Together, they took a breath, closed their eyes and ducked under the wave, Kate still clinging to Jack's hand. _

_On the other side, Jack broke the surface easily, but Kate, weighing much less than him, got caught in the undertow and had to fight her way up, panicking all the way. By the time she made it up, she had swallowed some water and began coughing. _

_She threw her arms around Jack's torso, clinging to him like a lifeline as he wrapped his arms around her snugly and whispered soothingly in her ear._

"_Kate, it's alright. Easy...just relax. I'm right here, okay? I've got you..."_

Tears rolled down Kate's face as she remembered that day, how happy they had been and how safe he had made her feel. It seemed like forever ago. She found herself praying to whoever the hell was listening, a god that she hadn't thought she believed in; so typical of her, to turn to someone only when she was desperate. '_But I'll change_,' she promised silently. "_Just bring him back to me, and I'll do anything you want me to do. Just please...bring him back...'_

Kate was sobbing now, but hurried to dry her tears when she heard rustling in the bushes behind her. She knew that it would be Claire, coming to check on her and make sure that she was alright…even though everyone knew that she wasn't, and might never be again.

* * *

Miles down the beach, a lone figure trudged along the shoreline. He was moving gradually, favoring one ankle with a slight limp, but continued steadily on in one direction.

Blood trickled slowly from a small wound near his temple, and his left wrist was swollen and bent at a strange angle, the skin marred with vicious black and purple bruising. But still he moved forward.

He paused to take a drink from a half-full bottle of water, which was all that he carried, wincing when he accidentally jarred his injured ankle.

He didn't stop for long. His destination was too important to allow for any unnecessary delays.

At the first sight of the campfire smoke rising slowly in the distance, he broke into a winning smile and picked up his pace slightly.

Jack was going home.

**

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So does it live up to the first chapter? Better? Worse? Gimme anything you got- it'll help me improve the story!**

**And yes, I know that I had Jack say some bad words and that he never really curses on the show (not that you can curse on ABC anyway). But he seems, to me at least, like that type who wouldn't curse out loud all that much, but you know that he's thinking it real hard in his head. So I took the liberty of putting it in there for you. Creative license at its best, I know. Lol.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone! I'm really sorry that it took me so long to update…real life is such a bitch sometimes. Lol. Anyway, I should be able to update more regularly now that school's out, provided that I don't get hit with writer's block again (cross fingers, knock on wood, blah blah blah). **

**Thank you to my wonderful reviewers! You guys are great! There's nothing more satisfying for me to know that there are people out there enjoying this story!**

**And here we go. This chapter is mad long compared to the first two, so hopefully that'll make up for how long it took me to get it written and posted.**

* * *

"This place really is beautiful," Claire whispered as she looked around her. She glanced over at Kate who was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, arms wrapped around them. Claire felt a little bad for following her friend here, but Kate had spent so much time alone recently that she figured it might be good for the woman to have a little company. 

"It's such a great spot, you know? How did you find it?" Claire's question was answered with silence and she sighed sadly, wishing that there was a way to cheer Kate up a bit.

They had been sitting there for over an hour, and Kate had yet to say more than two words. First, there had been the whispered 'Hi.' in response to Claire's greeting. Claire had then sat down next to her friend, joining her in staring out at the waves. After a few minutes she asked what Kate was thinking about.

'Him.'

Claire, knowing that Kate meant Jack, should have seen that coming and had mentally berated herself for asking such a stupid question. The next hour had passed in the same quiet that they were sitting in now, and Claire was sitting cross legged, drawing pictures in the sand with her fingers.

"We used to come here together."

Claire jumped slightly at Kate's sudden break of the silence but recovered quickly and turned her face towards her companion, silently encouraging her to continue.

Kate spoke in a sad, hushed voice that only hinted at how broken she was feeling. She continued staring resolutely out at the waves, not trusting herself to look at Claire while telling the story of how much this place actually meant to her.

"I had been coming here by myself for a while, to get away from it all. Just a few times, when it all became too much to handle. Turns out that he had been doing the same thing, because one day when I was here, he snuck up on me. Said that it was his spot, and then I said that it was mine. We decided to share it."

Although Claire smiled slightly at the sweetness of the story, the fact that Kate had carefully avoided saying Jack's name wasn't lost on her.

"He was complaining about how hot it was, laying there with his eyes closed, and I ended up pouring my water bottle all over his face. He pretended to get mad for a minute, but before I knew what was happening he had picked me up, run into the water, and thrown me in."

Claire laughed a little, amused by this very un-Jack-like behavior. "If someone did that to me, I'd probably smack them."

Kate allowed herself a small smile at that, though the happiness didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah. That thought crossed my mind as I was sinking to the bottom of the ocean. I considered yelling at him, pretending to be angry."

"But you weren't."

"No. I couldn't be." Tears welled up in Kate's eyes. "I got up to the surface and there he was, soaking wet and charming and smiling that _goddamn_ smile. Like he _knew_ that I wouldn't be mad. And I don't know how the hell he knew because anyone else who had done what he had just done would have been at least a little bit anxious that I was going to come up and be unbelievably pissed off." Her voice broke here, choked up with emotion. "But he knew. And I just…smiled at him."

"That's it? No revenge?"

"Well…I did sort of tackle him. We were acting like kids after that, splashing and shouting and pushing each other under the water. I think we both really needed it…to stop being so serious for a while and just have some fun."

Claire smiled sadly. "Jack always was just a little too intense, wasn't he?"

Kate flinched violently at Claire's use of the past tense. "_Is_ too intense, Claire. He _is_ too intense. Don't talk about him like…like he's not coming back. Please? I can't handle that. I can't-" Kate broke off suddenly and screwed her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears from falling.

Seeing that Kate was breaking down, Claire came to her side quickly, wrapping her arms around her friend in a comforting hug. "Kate, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I do think he's coming back. I know he's coming back!"

Kate just shook her head, tears finally escaping from under her eyelids. "Claire…what if he doesn't? What if he _never_ comes back? How am I supposed to…what am I going to do without him?"

"He will come back, sweetie. He will. It's _Jack_. We both know that he'll do anything to find his way back to you." Claire paused, a thought suddenly crossing her mind. "Kate, you do know that, right?"

Kate shrugged weakly, honestly not sure if she knew the answer to that question. How much did Jack really care about her?

"Kate? Kate, I mean it. He would move the world for you. You know that."

Did she? She would do anything for him, but was the feeling mutual? Suddenly, Jack's smiling face jumped to Kate's mind. It wasn't the scared, hurt face she had been picturing whenever she worried about him alone out it the jungle. It was the way it was supposed to be, the way it had been right before he had left with Charlie and Locke those two long weeks ago…right after she had kissed him on the cheek.

There in her head, as if it were a movie playing in slow motion, Kate saw it. That look in his eyes...he only got that when he was with her. How had she not noticed it before? And he hadn't wanted to leave her. She had asked him, _begged him_, to stay, and he wanted to...and if she hadn't gotten so damn scared, he probably would have stayed. But he sensed that she needed space, so he had held her hand briefly, made a promise, and then walked away, looking back only once. And there it was again...that look in his eyes.

He loved her.

Kate smiled, laughing slightly through her tears. Claire looked at her worriedly, but Kate just shook her head.

"It's okay, Claire. I'm okay. Tomorrow, I'm going to try and put together another search party. And if that doesn't work, if no one will come with me, then I'll go alone. I need to find him."

Claire nodded. "Do you want to go back to camp now?"

"No. I…I like being here. I feel closer to him when I'm here. Good memories. After that first day, we were here all the time. Sometimes we never even talked. We would just sit until one of us decided that it was time to come back…even though most of the time I think we would have been happier saying."

"Do you want me to go? I know that it's a special place for the two of you, and I don't want to ruin it."

Kate smiled at her considerate friend. "No, it's alright. Just don't tell anyone about it. And defiantly don't tell Jack…not that I think he'd really mind. He's good like that."

Claire grinned. That was the first time Kate had said his name all day.

* * *

At about two hours before sunset, Sawyer stood outside his tent smoking a cigarette. He was almost out, down to two packs left, but hell did he need one right now. The doc had been missing for two weeks, and it certainly looked like he wasn't going to be coming back. Damn island. 

Sawyer had found himself irritatingly unhappy since everyone's favorite doctor had disappeared. Leave it to Jack to get the whole camp on its knees. Sawyer sighed. As much as he wanted to say that he didn't miss Jack, he knew that he did. Jack was his friend, and while it was a strange friendship, they were buddies nonetheless.

And then Jacko had to go and vanish, knowing full well that Sawyer was planning on finally beating him at poker. Stupid bastard.

Throwing down last of his cigarette and grinding it into the sand with his heel, Sawyer turned upon hearing Charlie's voice.

"Sawyer, have you seen Claire around? She left Aaron with me hours ago and I haven't seen her since. Where'd she go?"

Sawyer rolled his eyes. God, this guy was stupid. "She went to find Freckles. She told you when she left."

Charlie looked confused as he rocked a crying Aaron back and forth in his arms. "No she didn't."

Sawyer rolled his eyes again. "_Yes_, she did. I was standing right there when she said it. And will you shut that kid up!"

"I'm trying! It's not my fault I can't get him to be quiet!"

"How is that not your fault?" Sawyer smirked. He _could_ help the guy…but this was just way more fun.

"Because he's a baby! Babies always cry!"

"Thus, it is up to their much esteemed caregivers or, in our case, _you_, to shut them the hell up." Sawyer was nearly laughing now. He hadn't been this entertained all day.

"Oh yeah? Well how would you make him stop crying, smart guy?"

Sawyer grinned. This was priceless. "Well, first of all, I wouldn't hold the kid upside down."

"What!" Charlie looked down, and Aaron was indeed face down in his arms, unharmed but obviously uncomfortable. "Bloody hell!" Charlie righted the child and he immediately stopped crying, peering at Charlie's worried face curiously. "Aaron, I'm so sorry mate. And…let's not tell your mum about this, okay?" Charlie then turned a glare to Sawyer. "You could have told me sooner!"

"So you admit that I was right, then? Because I did know better than you how to shut him up." Charlie gaped at him wordlessly, and Sawyer grinned in triumph as he mockingly pumped his fist in the air. "Score one for Uncle Sawyer!" Charlie just shook his head. Sawyer was harmless, really. He was just a pain in the ass sometimes. "And don't worry, Mary Poppins. I won't tell your girlfriend about this glaring neglect of her only child."

"It wasn't neglect. He was just…a little turned around. Wasn't like I was ignoring him or anything."

"How is not realizing that the kid is upside down in your arms _not_ ignoring him?"

"Dude, will you two shut up?" Hurley had come up next to them, sick of the yelling. "You're like an old married couple."

Charlie and Sawyer, indignant looks of their faces, stepped farther away from each other. Hurley just laughed, glad that he had stopped the arguing.

Sawyer turned to go into his tent, but something further down the beach caught his eye. Someone was heading towards camp. And the tall figure, though still relatively far away, was strangely familiar.

Charlie and Hurley, having seen Sawyer stop suddenly, followed his line of sight.

"Who the bloody hell is that?"

"Dude, what if it's an Other?"

"Obviously it's not an Other, mate! They wouldn't just walk up in plain sight like that!"

"Sure they would! Don't you see? It's exactly what we wouldn't be expecting! We should have been ready for this! _Constant vigilance!_"

"What are you smoking, mate?"

"Dude, haven't you ever read Harry Potter? There's this crazy old guy in it with one eye and half a nose and a wooden leg and he's always-"

"No, I did not ever read Harry bloody Potter! What are you, twelve?"

"Dude, you are majorly missing out. Like seriously. Maybe there's a copy around here somewhere. Hey Sawyer, do you have-"

"Will you two shut up? Jesus, talk about old married couples…" Sawyer was still watching the person walking towards them. He was closer now. Close enough for Sawyer to see his face.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered in slight disbelief, though there was a happy tone to his voice. "He's back."

"_WHAT?_" Charlie and Hurley both started yelling, not believing what Sawyer had just said.

"Ethan's back?"

"How!"

"I killed him!"

"Oh my god, we're all going to die!"

"Dude, head for the hatch!"

"No, you incredible, unbelievable idiots!" Sawyer rubbed his temples with his fingers irritably, obviously pained by the enormous stupidity surrounding him. "That's Jack!"

"_WHAT?_" Charlie and Hurley both started yelling again, still not believing what Sawyer had just said.

"Jack's back?"

"How!"

"I thought he was lost in the jungle!"

"Oh my god, he isn't dead!"

"Dude, go find Kate!"

"Oh my God, shut up!" Angry, Sawyer took a deep breath. Now was a time to be calm and serious. He would kill them later. "Charlie, go and find Kate, right now. Claire is with her."

"What? Why do _I_ have to go? I want to see Jack!" Charlie spluttered in annoyance.

Sawyer took another deep breath. "Because," he said with the air of someone explaining things to a very small child, "as much as a would love to send Lightweight over here, I think that you're a little quicker on your feet. Now go! And Charlie," he yelled as the man turned to run off, "don't tell her yet that he's back. Let her be surprised, okay? Just say that I need to talk to her or something." Charlie nodded, handed Aaron to Hurley, and took off in the general direction of where Claire had headed earlier that morning.

Shaking his head, Sawyer turned back to the shoreline and found that Jack had nearly reached the camp. He was well within shouting distance, which Sawyer immediately took advantage of. "What the hell is the matter with you, Doc? You disappear for two weeks, get everyone all worried, and you think we're just gonna welcome you back with open arms? Hell, I was happier without you here."

Jack, a bright grin evident on his face, yelled back. "Oh, come on Sawyer. I know you missed me terribly! I bet there's no tissues left on the whole beach as a result of all the crying you must have done!"

Sawyer laughed, not bothering to hide that he was indeed happy to have his friend back. "Cheeky bastard." By now, Jack had reached the tent, and Sawyer grinned, shaking his hand firmly. "Good to have you back, Jackie-boy."

Jack laughed. "Thanks, man. And '_Jackie-boy_'? That's a new one. You think of that while you were crying into your pillow over the fact that I was gone?"

"Ha! 'Crying into my pillow.'" Sawyer scoffed. "Shouting with joy was more like. I'll be crying into it now though, seeing as you had the nerve drag your sorry ass back here." Jack just laughed, shaking his head, and then turned to Hurley. "Hey Hurley."

"Dude! You're like…alive. That rocks!" He made a move as if to hug Jack, but Jack held up his hand.

"Sorry Hurley, but I am seriously bruised up. If you hug me, I may have to kill you."

Sawyer smirked at the slightly disappointed look on Hurley's face. "Speaking of bruised up, what the hell happened to you? I can't even look at that wrist without cringing, and the side of your head looks like shit."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Well, thank you _Sawyer_, for your kind words of concern. I'll remember that then next time you get hurt and I have to patch you up." He grinned, but his eyes were scanning the beach quickly as though looking for something, which Sawyer noticed.

"I sent Charlie to get her," said Sawyer. "They should be back any minute now. I told him not to tell her that you're back, so that she'll be surprised and all."

Jack nodded. "Is she okay?" he whispered, trying and failing to keep the emotion out of his voice.

Sawyer and Hurley looked at each other uncomfortably before Sawyer cautiously answered Jack's question with an amount of emotion and tact that was quite unlike him. "She's…well, to tell the truth, she's really not okay. I mean, we all hoped that you would come back, but, I mean _two weeks_… a lot of people were giving up. _She_ never gave up, but still…It wasn't good, it…it tore her up pretty bad, man." He looked to Hurley for help.

"Dude, she like, never sleeps. Can't, because of nightmares or something. She's crying all the time too."

So much for tact.

At Hurley's words, Sawyer punched him in the arm, not believing that he would say something so stupid to Jack. "Hurley, shut the hell up! That didn't help! I swear to God…"

He turned to Jack and looked at him apologetically. "Anyway, you get the picture. Let's just say that it's good you came back, because if you hadn't…she wouldn't have been able to handle that."

Jack just nodded slightly and turned his back to them, looking out at the ocean. "But, other then that, she's okay, right?" he asked, not turning back to look at them while he spoke.

"Dude, yeah. She's fine…except for the whole broken hearted thing."

"Hurley! You are the stupidest person I have ever met!"

"What did I say?"

"Are you kidding me? Could you really be this dumb? Is that even possible?"

Jack sighed as he listened to them bicker behind him. He was glad that Sawyer's tent was on the edge of camp; he really didn't feel like dealing with the welcoming committee and all the questions that they were sure to ask: '_Where were you?' 'Are you okay?' 'Good to have you back!'_ And then, most defiantly: '_Doctor, I hurt my leg yesterday. Could you take a look at it?' _He wasn't ready for all of that yet. He really just wanted to sleep. And see Kate. That was about it.

'_Except for the whole broken hearted thing.'_

Broken hearted. She was broken hearted without him.

Before he had time to reflect on this properly, Sawyer, who had abruptly stopped arguing with Hurley, said his name, causing Jack to turn around. His eyes quickly took in the change in his surroundings. Sawyer and Hurley were slightly to his left, with Hurley holding Aaron. Charlie and Claire had joined them and were standing a few yards from Sawyer and Hurley, Charlie smiling happily at him while tears rolled slowly down Claire's beaming face. That was weird, Jack thought. But then his gaze fell on the figure standing next to Claire.

And he swore that his heart stopped.

* * *

Charlie sprinted through the campsite, looking left and right for Claire and Kate. "Bloody Sawyer," he muttered, "making me run around like the sodding messenger boy." Finally he saw them, emerging from some trees on the far side of camp. He jogged over to them and, knowing that Jack was always on Kate's mind, tried his best to be discreet. 

"Hello ladies! Lovely night, isn't it? Just look at that sunset!" Kate and Claire looked at him strangely. "Erm…I mean…How are you this fine evening?"

Claire looked at him curiously. "Charlie, _where_ is Aaron?"

"Aaron? Wha-? Oh! Aaron! He's with Hurley. And Sawyer. Speaking of which, let's go see them! Right now!"

Claire and Kate looked at each other, the expressions on their faces plainly saying the same thing. 'He's weird.'

"Come on, let's go!" Charlie ushered the women towards Sawyer's tent on the other side of the beach, thankful that the tent was hiding Jack from view; Charlie didn't want to be the one to ruin the surprise.

"Charlie, why are we going to see Hurley and Sawyer?"

"Because, my dear Kate, they are our good friends. I figured we could all have a nice chat. Plus, Claire should get Aaron back from their clutches before the two of them corrupt him too much."

Claire sent Kate a look the said 'What the on earth is wrong with him?' to which Kate's look replied '_I _don't know. He's _your_ boyfriend.' Having a nice giggle at Charlie's expense, the women followed him to Sawyer's tent.

Nearing the tent, they heard arguing and, judging from the voices, it was Hurley and Sawyer, no doubt arguing about something stupid.

"…Could you really be this dumb? Is that even possible?"

"Dude, of course it is. There are stupid people all over the- Hey! I am not stupid."

Shaking their heads, Claire and Kate rounded the corner of the tent while Charlie skipped gleefully behind them.

Kate took in the scene layed out front of her quickly. There were Sawyer and Hurley arguing, Hurley red in the face while Sawyer smirked at him and to their right was-

Kate stopped. It couldn't be. There, not fifty feet in front of her, was Jack. Grey cutoff t-shirt and blue jeans that were ripped and muddy at the cuffs; the same as when she had last seen him. His back was to her, and he obviously hadn't noticed her presence yet, but he was there. _He was there_. She stared in disbelief.

Sawyer, noticing that the other three had finally come, put up his hand to silence Hurley. The man stopped talking immediately, and Sawyer looked at Kate carefully. She was just standing there looking at Jack, obviously in shock. Knowing this, Sawyer decided that it was up to him to say something. "Jack," he said to the man softly.

Jack turned, and Kate watched as his eyes swept across the people in front of him. Sawyer, Hurley, Charlie, Claire. They finally landed on her. He looked into her eyes and she held his gaze, afraid to look away lest he disappear.

For a minute that felt like an eternity they stood like that, looking into each others eyes and then, at last,

"J…Jack?" she whispered, not daring to raise her voice any more. Could he really be here? Just an hour before she was crying, heartbroken over the fact that she may never see him again…was it possible for him to be standing right in front of her?

Jack stared at her for an instant before smiling softly. He smiled. And Kate knew, in that one smile, that he was back. He was back, and this was real. "Kate," he whispered, taking a small step towards her.

That first sound of his voice, whispering her name like it was the only word that he ever wanted to say for the rest of his life, was the breaking point for Kate. Caught between tears and laughter Kate sprinted forward and, closing the last few feet of space between them, threw herself into Jack's open arms.

Jack staggered backwards slightly from the force that Kate's body hit his with, but as she flung her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck, he wrapped his arms tightly around her, pulling her as close to him as possible. Upon deciding that this wasn't nearly close enough, he put his forehead to the side of her head, face hidden in her curls, wanting every inch of his body to be touching hers.

Jack felt Kate crying, her tears running down his neck and wetting his t-shirt, and he was surprised to find that he was crying as well, overwhelmed with the emotion of seeing her again. Kate tightened her hold on him, her lips pressed to his neck, so that he felt as well as heard her murmuring, "I missed you, Jack." She was crying in full force now, her sobs shaking her body as well as his. "I missed you…"

"I know," he whispered back, kissing her temple lovingly. "I missed you too. So much."

Pulling back from him slightly, just enough to see his face, Kate looked deeply into Jack's dark brown eyes. Slowly, she reached up one of her hands and put it to his cheek, feeling the stubble there with her fingertips. Her hand traced his face gently, lightly, as though checking again to make sure that he was real.

Smiling gently, his eyes never leaving hers, Jack placed his hand over Kate's, pressing it to his cheek.

Kate smiled up at him, tears still streaming down her face. "Don't you ever, _ever_, scare me like that again, Jack Shephard."

Jack laughed softly and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I won't. I promise. And I don't break promises, remember?"

Smiling, Kate pulled him close again, not planning on letting go anytime soon.

Off to the side, Jack and Kate's friends watched the couple happily and, in one case, with envy.

"Dude! How come _she_ got to hug him?" From the tone of Hurley's voice, it was impossible to tell if he was joking or not.

Sawyer just shook his head. He really was surrounded by idiots.

**

* * *

****_See_? I told you that it would get fluffy! All it takes is patience, my friends!**

**So. What do you think? I know that I could defiantly wrap the story up right here, say that this is the end, but I do have some more plans for it. Should I write a few more chapters? Only you can decide! Oh, the power! So review, my pretties! Right now! Please?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay! Chapter 4! You asked for it, so here it is. **

**Thank you to my wonderful reviewers! You guys rock, and I love coming and reading all of your encouraging comments!**

**Sorry for the stupidly long amount of time between updates. Hopefully the length of this chapter will make up for it. Speaking of which…**

**This chapter is really, ridiculously long. At 10,500 (!) words, it's longer than the first three chapters put together. So sit back. Get comfy. Unplug the phones. Maybe find some snacks or something. Cause you're gonna be here for awhile! ****

* * *

**

As Kate stood on the beach locked in a fierce embrace with Jack, she decided that this was where she wanted to stay forever.

Unfortunately, it was only three minutes before a familiar voice broke the silence.

"Umm, dudes? Not to like, break up the happy reunion or anything, but it's getting kinda late, and…I still want to know where Jack has been all this time."

Jack laughed as Kate pulled away from him slightly, muttering less than friendly words about Hurley under her breath. Finally taking a good look at him, Kate gasped as she took in Jack's injuries. "Jack…you're hurt."

"Did you _just_ notice that? _Damn_, Freckles! Remind me to never hire _you_ for a surveillance job..."

Ignoring Sawyer, Kate touched the wound the side of Jack's head tenderly, but quickly drew her hand back when he winced. "Oh, Jack, I'm sorry! That looks awful…you're bleeding! What happened to you out there?"

"Yeah, dude, what _did _happen? And didn't that hurt, Kate running into you like that? I mean, if _I_ couldn't hug you, Kate's tackle-hug must've-"

"No, Hurley, I'm fine. It didn't-"

"_What_!" Kate's exclamation cut Jack off, and she stared at him in disbelief. "I hurt you? Why didn't you say something?"

"Kate, I'm fine, I swear. I'm just a little banged up-"

"A little banged up! Doc, have you _seen_ your wrist? If that's only 'a little banged up,' I'd love to see what you think a real injury looks like."

Jack glared at Sawyer over Kate's shoulder. "Sawyer, seriously man, you are not helping me here."

Kate looked up at Jack imploringly. "Jack, how hurt are you, really?"

Jack sighed. "I'm _fine_. It's not that bad. I'm mostly just tired." Sawyer and Charlie scoffed, but Jack ignored them and began listing injuries, genuinely unaware of the fact that most people would not be describing such troubles as 'not that bad.'

"My wrist is the worst, but it's sort of reached the point were the whole thing has gone numb. I'm pretty sure it's a clean break, so someone'll just have to snap it back into alignment. Although it _has_ been like this for awhile…" Jack paused for a second and looked his wrist, as though pondering _how_ exactly he was going to fix the mangled joint, but then continued. "And my head isn't _too_ bad, the bleeding has nearly stopped and the cut itself is most likely pretty shallow…I should check it. At worst, it'll need some stitches." His voice was less confident now, obviously realizing that the aliments would all need more tending to than he thought. "And I rolled my ankle slightly, but the swelling is more or less down, so that's _almost_ all better. Should probably stay off it for a day or two." Stopping as though finished, Jack took in the stunned expressions around him, more honest confusion written across his face. "Oh, and I've got a few bruised ribs that are practically healed," he added as a casual afterthought. "Should probably get some ice…on…them…" Jack trailed off, catching the frighteningly angry look on Kate's face

"_Bruised ribs_!" Kate looked at Jack as though she couldn't believe his stupidity and then began yelling, upset that her hugging him had, without doubt, caused him a sizeable amount of pain. "Why didn't you stop me?"

Jack, knowing that he was in big trouble, did his best to assuage Kate's exasperation. "Kate, honestly, I'm fine. I didn't even notice the pain. _Really_. I was so happy to see you, and I just-"

"You have _bruised ribs_, and you let me jump on you like that? Jack, _what the hell is the matter with you_? How could you possibly let me hurt you so much? I mean,-"

"Kate."

Kate continued her rant, ignoring Jack, his interruptions, and the increasingly amused look on his face.

"-you've got bruised ribs, and you let me run into you at full speed! That could be-"

"_Kate._"

"-the stupidest thing that you have ever done! And your _wrist_! There is no way that it doesn't hurt, and I _must_ have knocked it when I barreled into you! How could I not notice? But Jack, really, _bruised ribs,_-"

"_Kate!_"

"-you can't _possibly_ tell me that it didn't hurt! How could-"

Kate was cut off again, this time by Jack's lips descending on hers. Her eyes fluttered closed as he kissed her softly, and she was quickly filled with a warm, overwhelming happiness. Jack stepped closer to her, not leaving an inch of space between their bodies, and Kate felt him seek out her hand with his good one, lacing their fingers together snugly once he found it. She smiled against his mouth, touched by the sweet gesture. It was simple act, but so endearingly and adorably _Jack_ that Kate could help but feel a powerful surge of emotions, none of which she could name, though all left her with a breathless and pleasantly dizzy feeling.

Jack pulled away after another moment, his forehead resting on hers and their bodies still pressed together. Kate put a hand on his chest, doing her best to steady herself and not melt into a puddle at his feet.

Slowly, Kate opened her eyes, and she found herself trapped in Jack's gaze, mesmerized by the adoring look in his eyes and the knee-weakening smile that was displayed on his face.

"Guess I found a new way to keep you from yelling at me, huh?" he whispered, winking at her impishly.

Kate smacked him playfully on the arm, amused by the mood-lightening comment, and Jack laughed before kissing the tip of her nose fondly.

Once again, Kate and Jack found themselves wanting to stay in the moment forever and once again, the moment was broken by one the three stooges; this time, it was Charlie's turn.

"Well, this is bloody brilliant. First I had to deal with the verbal copulating, and now we're going to be witness to even more of these public displays of affection."

Sawyer and Hurley laughed, but Claire cuffed Charlie round the head, a disciplinary action she was rather fond of. "Charlie, leave them alone. Honestly, what a way to ruin the moment!" Claire looked at Jack and Kate apologetically. "Sorry guys. I swear, sometimes it's like I have two children instead of one!"

Jack and Kate laughed at the put out look on Charlie's face. They were standing next to each other, still impossibly close together. Jack's arm was slung around Kate's shoulders, her arm wrapped securely around his waist with her thumb hooked through one of the belt loops in his jeans. Kate stood on her tiptoes and kissed Jack adoringly on the cheek, much to Sawyer's dismay.

"Alright, can we stop the love-fest already? You all can find plenty of other times to do that, preferably when the rest of us ain't watching and waiting to hear the returning hero's story. So whaddaya say, Jackie-boy?"

Jack rolled his eyes dramatically. "Honestly, Sawyer, this 'Jackie-boy' thing has got to stop. I know you love giving us all cute little nicknames, but this one is a record low, even by your standards."

Kate smiled up at Jack, only half-teasingly. "I think it's cute."

Jack pulled a comical face, appalled.

Kate smiled more broadly, batting her eyelashes. "Can _I_ call you that?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"How about just 'Jackie'?"

"No chance in hell."

Kate pouted and saw Jack's resolve visibly crumbling before her eyes. "Pleeease, Jack?"

Jack sighed spectacularly, torn between making Kate happy and preserving his dignity. "_Why_ would you want to call me _that_? I have a perfectly good name that you can use."

"She's testing you, mate. Wants to see how you'll respond to her absurd womanly requests."

"Definitely. The old ball and chain. You're screwed, man."

"Doc's gonna get his ass kicked by his woman. Wish I had some popcorn…you got any with you, Lardo?"

"Not cool, dude. Not cool."

Claire made eye contact with Kate, sighing and muttering something that sounded strangely like '_Men!_' before smacking all three of them on their heads.

_Slap!_ "Ow! _Damn_, woman!"

_Slap!_ "Dude!"

_Slap!_ "Claire, love, would you stop that already?"

"Only if the three of you will be quiet! Jack still hasn't told us what happened, all because _you_ keep interrupting him!"

"You know, if they keep interrupting me, I might not tell them at all. I'm in serious need of pain meds and some sleep. I think I should leave now and just tell Kate. She hasn't interrupted me yet."

"No, but she _did_ slam into you and almost break your ribs."

Jack nodded his head in fake agreement with Sawyer's exaggeration. "Good point. I'm not telling any of you, then."

Laughing at the outraged expressions on all their faces, Jack relented. "Fine, I'll tell you. This way, I'll only have to tell the story once…because as soon as Hurley and Charlie find out, the whole camp'll know."

"So what happened?"

Jack sighed again. "It's rather stupid, if truth be told. I'll let you guess. What's the most ridiculous thing that could possibly happen to keep me away for two weeks but still manage to give me some physical injuries?"

"You were abducted by brain-eating purple aliens that took you to the mother-ship, flew your unconscious body to their home planet and studied you, then cloned you, meaning that the person standing in front of us right now is not the real Jack but a brainless Jack-clone that was planted here to re-integrate with us, take over the island, and start a new brain-eating purple alien civilization," Charlie answered promptly.

Everyone stared at him open-mouthed, Sawyer with something akin to revulsion written across his face.

"_What_?" Charlie asked innocently. "You said 'most ridiculous.'"

Jack closed his eyes as if in pain, trying to remember why on earth he had come back in the first place. Coincidentally, Kate chose that moment to wrap her other arm around his waist firmly, once again pulling his body close to hers. 'Oh,' he thought. 'That's why.'

After re-tightening his hold on Kate, Jack decided to try again. "Okay, Charlie. Pick the _second_ most ridiculous thing that could possibly happen to keep me away for two weeks but still manage to give me some physical injuries."

"You were abducted by _rifle-toting,_ _green_ aliens who-"

"Stop!" Jack yelled. "Just…stop. I can't take it anymore. At this rate, we're going to be here all night. And, astonishingly, what you said is reasonably close to what happened."

It was Jack's turn to be gawked at.

After a minute, Sawyer broke the stunned silence. "Doc, are you trying to tell us that you actually _were_ abducted by rifle-toting green aliens?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "No. Of course not. I said he was _reasonably_ close, remember?" He smirked. "Replace the green aliens with a psychotic French chick."

Jack's casual statement was met with even more shocked staring.

"Mate, are you saying that it was _Rousseau_?"

"No, genius, he was talking about the _other_ psychotic French chick," muttered Sawyer sarcastically.

"_Dude_! There's more than one?"

"No! Could you two _be_ any stupider? Of_ course_ he's talking about Rousseau!" Sawyer yelled, provoking Hurley and Charlie enough to start a new argument with him. Claire rushed over to rescue Aaron and try to shut the three yelling men up.

Jack let out a strangled sound, half-laugh and half-sob, and pulled Kate even closer to him, his lips right next to her ear. "Let's leave," he whispered, his breath tickling her skin. "I can't take it anymore. I swear that if we don't leave right now, I'm going to kill them all. Can I? _Please_?"

Kate giggled at the comical desperation in his voice. "Yeah. Let's go to the hatch and get you cleaned up, okay? Pain meds and sleep, just like you said." Kate paused for a second, chewing on her bottom lip. "It was really Rousseau?" she whispered dejectedly.

Feeling Jack nod, Kate sighed sadly, her eyes tearing up. "We questioned her, Jack. We found her wandering the jungle and I asked her myself if she had seen you. She said no. She…I shouldn't have believed her! Jack, I am so sorry." Kate was crying now, tears rolling slowly down her face. _It was her fault...by believing Rousseau, she had delayed Jack's return home. How could she have been so stupid?_

Jack felt his heart break, knowing that Kate was blaming herself. "Shhh, Kate, it's alright. Please don't cry. Everything worked out. Please don't be sorry, because you have nothing to be sorry for. I'm back, and everything's fine, right?" Kate just shook her head feebly against his chest.

"Look, Kate, it's not your fault that an insane French woman took me captive. I don't even know why she wanted me…" Jack paused here for dramatic effect "…though I assume that she was merely enthralled by my dashing good looks and couldn't control herself."

Jack's remark earned him a laugh out of Kate, who pulled back so she could see his face. "Yeah," she whispered happily, albeit a bit tearily. "I guess you are pretty cute."

"I really am, aren't I?"

Jack laughed after saying this and, breaking from his fake vanity, leaned over and kissed the remaining tears from Kate's face. "No more blaming yourself, okay?" he whispered softly in her ear.

Kate nodded. "Okay." Glancing at the four arguing adults and the crying baby, she giggled. "Let's get out of here."

Jack readily agreed. "Yes please! Judging by the way that they're yelling, I'm pretty sure they won't even notice we're gone."

Amused by Jack's eagerness to sneak away, Kate grabbed his good hand in hers again and started walking towards the edge of the jungle. She figured that it would be easy enough to just walk away without their four friends noticing; apparently Jack had other ideas. Taking a wide berth around the other adults, Jack took the lead, all the time using exaggerated stealth moves. Kate fought hard not to laugh at the mock intense look on his face; she knew that making too much noise would alert someone to the fact that they were leaving. This wouldn't really matter, being as they had free will and could do whatever they pleased, but Kate knew that Jack was going through his routine purely for her entertainment. He was successful; she was nearly in tears for trying to hold back laughter.

They reached the tree line, and Kate finally gave into the hysterics as Jack half dove behind a large tree, pulling her with him. He leaned back against the trunk and Kate stumbled into him, laughing into his chest as his arms snuck around her waist. Jack was laughing too, but he was doing his best to stay quiet; even though they were hidden, they were still within hearing range.

"Shhh, Kate!" came his whisper, the seriousness of the statement strangled by laughter. "They're gonna hear us! Please don't make me go back there!"

More laughing from Kate.

"Shhhh!"

The laughter died down slightly as Kate glanced up at Jack, biting her lip to keep from bursting into hilarity again. She was expecting his face to be a picture of calm; Kate never expected to see the amount of joy that she saw displayed of Jack's face, his eyes lit up in delight.

"God, Kate, you are the worst secret agent ever!"

This statement sent Kate back into a fit of mirth, and Jack rolled his eyes good-naturedly as she once again buried her face into his chest to muffle the noise. She seemed to have forgotten about the bruised ribs, but Jack certainly wasn't going to complain.

"Your lack of sneakiness is okay, though," he whispered, his arms pulling her closer. "I'm enough James Bond for the both of us." Kate laughed even harder at this and Jack stood patiently as she fought to get herself under control, hiding his beaming smile against her hair.

Finally, Kate took a deep breath and pulled away from him, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

"Better?" Jack questioned smugly, a smile still playing across his face.

Kate nodded. "Yeah. I'm good."

"About time. I thought you were never going to stop."

"It's your fault for making me laugh so hard."

"Oh sure, blame me: poor, innocent Jackie." Jack stopped, catching the highly amused look on Kate's face, and realized what he had just said. "Did I just refer to myself as 'Jackie'?"

Kate grinned at him playfully. "Yes. Yes you did."

Jack cursed under his breath. "Damn Sawyer and his nicknames…"

Smiling, Kate wound her arms around his neck. She had him now. "And, because _you_ called yourself that, I retain the right to call you that."

Jack sighed. It was inevitable anyway…might as get it over with. "_Fine_. But _only you_ can say it. And only when we're alone."

Kate grinned in triumph and kissed him soundly on the lips. "I win," she whispered breathlessly after pulling away.

Jack sighed again, though it was halfhearted and may very well been a sigh of contentment. "Don't you always?"

Kate just smiled and shook her head before pulling him away from the tree. "Let's go, Bond." Jack chuckled and began walking next to her, but was stopped as quickly as he started by Kate grabbing his shoulder. "Jack, you're limping."

"Of course I'm limping. Sprained ankle, remember? It's no big deal…I've been walking on it all day."

Kate rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. "All the more reason to _not_ put full weight on it now. Come here." Kate walked over to Jack's side and pulled his arm around her shoulders and then wrapped her arm firmly around his waist. "See? Just lean on me a little when you walk. It'll give that ankle a break."

Jack grinned and gave a mock salute. "Yes ma'am!"

"That's more like it. To the hatch!"

"Actually, can we stop at my tent first? Not to sound girly or anything but…I would _love_ a change of clothes."

Kate smiled at him sympathetically. "Of course." She had somehow managed to forget that he was back from two weeks of being captured in the jungle. Kate shook her head. Only Jack would be able to return after an ordeal like _that_ and play it all off like it was 'no big deal'. He was clearly in a lot of pain, mostly from his wrist, though he was doing a good job of trying to hide it. Kate would take care of him though; soon those two weeks would all just be a bad memory.

"What are you thinking about?"

Kate was shaken from her thoughts by Jack's question. "Huh?"

Jack chuckled. "Where were you? You left me for a minute there."

"Oh…it was nothing. I was just…just wondering how we're gonna get to your tent without being mobbed by the entire camp." She smirked "You're very popular."

Jack groaned. "Damn. I forgot about them. Not that I don't like everybody caring about me and all, but I really don't want to deal with the horde right now."

"We'll just have to sneak around back. Your tent is right on the edge of camp, and its sunset, so there's not much light for anyone to see us by. Then we'll go to the hatch. People will find out that you're back anyway, since Charlie and Hurley are sure to spread the news around the first chance they get, so we don't have to feel guilty about everyone spending more time worrying about you."

Jack beamed at her. "I retract my earlier statement. You would just make an _excellent_ secret agent…provided you wear a muzzle."

Kate poked him in the side for his last comment, but clapped her hands over her mouth in horror when Jack gave a sharp hiss of pain. "Oh my God! Jack, I am so, _so_ sorry!"

"It's okay. Don't worry about it." Jack's statement was unconvincing however, being as he was speaking through clenched teeth, his jaw screwed up tightly against the painful sting in his side.

"I cannot believe I just did that! And I've been hugging you again too…Jack, I'm sorry!"

"It's fine. Hugging me is fine." Jack was feeling better now, the pain having dulled to an ache that he was fully capable of ignoring. "It's the poking and prodding that we need to rule out. Definitely can't have anymore of that."

"Jack, that makes no sense!"

"Sure it does. It's almost healed, so you hugging me doesn't really hurt. _Poking me_, however, pushes harder and in a more concentrated spot making it hurt more."

Kate still looked skeptical, but Jack just draped his arm around her shoulders again and began steering them around the edge of camp. "I'm fine, see? Now, let's put this master plan of yours into action."

As it turned out, they could have made it without the master plan. The other castaways were shockingly unaware of their surroundings and before Jack and Kate knew it, they were in his tent.

"Wow. That was suspiciously easy. No booby traps, no explosions, no nothing. I don't feel like we accomplished anything."

Kate laughed at Jack's obvious disappointment in the lack of peril. "When you're all healed, I'll have Sayid set up an army training course for you to run through. Ropes, climbing, the whole deal. That'll make up for the lack of excitement here, shouldn't it?" she asked sarcastically, eyes alight with teasing humor.

Jack grinned roguishly. "Only if he uses some of the unstable dynamite in the construction of the thing. I like the thrill I get from knowing I could blow up any second."

Kate just shook her head at him and looked around the tent. She loved it in here…everything about it screamed 'Jack'. His clothes were folded neatly, but placed in somewhat unorganized stacks in the sand. There were some medical supplies too: important stuff that she figured he wanted to keep separate from the main stash that was kept in the hatch, and some little things like bandages and aspirin that he always seemed to have with him.

"Can you grab me some jeans and a shirt? I want to look through my supplies, see if maybe I can find something to help with my wrist." Jack turned and began sifting one-handed through the piles of medical stuff.

"Sure thing, Jackie." Kate laughed, watching Jack's shoulders shudder at the use of his much detested nickname. She figured the pleasure of teasing him about it would wear off soon enough, but for now it was exceptionally entertaining.

Kate wandered over to Jack's clothes and began searching through the small piles.

"You can just grab whatever's on top," she heard from across the tent. "I don't really care."

"What's the matter Jack?" she teased, "Trying to hide your underwear from me?"

"Of course not," Jack said, and Kate heard the laughter in his voice. "Speaking of which," he continued, "grab me a pair of boxers, would you? Don't get too excited though…I've hidden all the ones with cute little patterns on them."

Kate giggled. "So none with smiley faces or little hearts or anything?"

"Unfortunately not. Sorry to disappoint."

She finally found the articles of clothing that she had been rummaging around for: the most worn and softest pair of jeans that were ripped at the knee, which she knew was his favorite, and the purple button-down shirt with the sleeves ripped off…because it was her favorite. Grinning to herself, Kate also picked up a black pair of the requested boxer shorts. Turning with clothes in hand, she stepped back over to Jack.

"Is you're backpack in here?" she questioned, looking around.

"There may be an extra one around here somewhere." Jack smirked. "I don't have _my_ backpack anymore…psycho-bitch took it after she captured me and didn't return it."

Kate snorted at Jack's less-than-affectionate nickname for Rousseau. Spotting a small rucksack in the corner of the tent, she grabbed it, stuffing his clothes inside. Jack reached over and dropped a container of pills inside, then did up the bag's zipper.

"What are those for?" Kate asked softly.

"They should help with the hurting in my wrist…if the pain doesn't make me pass out first." Jack stated matter-of-factly.

Kate winced. "Is it that bad?" she whispered worriedly.

"Not at the moment. It's currently reduced to a sort of throbbing ache. But someone's gonna have to set it, and it's been like this for a long time. My guess is that I'll do some screaming, and quite possibly some very un-manly crying."

"Who…who's going to set it? You can't do that yourself, and there's no way I can."

"I think we're gonna have to find Sun, see if she'll help me. She knowledgeable enough that she should be able to do it."

"Okay. Let's get you to the hatch and then I'll go find her. If we're lucky she'll be in the garden. She usually stays pretty late and then heads back to the beach right around sunset."

"How convenient. See? No one can say I don't have good timing."

"Well, personally, I would have liked you to come home fourteen sunsets earlier."

"Yeah…sorry about that. But the queen of darkness had me under constant surveillance."

Kate laughed again. "Queen of darkness, huh? You're just full of these names for her, aren't you?"

"Yup." There was delight evident in Jack's voice. "I had two weeks to come up with them all. Sawyer will be proud."

"Well, let's go, and when we get to the hatch, you can write them all down."

The couple snuck out of the tent, once again unnoticed by the rest of the camp, and began walking slowly down the path to the hatch. Jack's arm was in its new favorite place, positioned securely around Kate's shoulders.

"I never thought I'd be so excited to go to the hatch," Jack said happily. "I don't really like it down there, because of the beeping and that damn button, but-"

"There's no more button."

Jack looked at Kate incredulously. "What are you talking about?"

"Locke stopped pushing it. One day last week during his shift, he got this Zen look on his face and said 'the island doesn't want me to do this anymore'. The timer ran out, nothing happened, and he went to play backgammon with Walt. And that was the end of that."

"He just…stopped? Just like that? After all that-? He…" Jack trailed off resignedly, shaking his head with a sigh. "Forget it. I need sleep."

Kate sniggered as they kept walking, Jack occasionally muttering an expletive about fanatical bald men under his breath.

They reached a bend in the path, and Kate stopped short, listening closely.

Jack, completely oblivious, was jerked to a stop. "What is it?" he asked.

"I hear someone. Two someones, actually. I think its Sayid with Shannon. They were in the hatch before listening to music or something."

Jack smirked. "Want to mess with them a little?" Off Kate's enthusiastic nod, he continued. "Just keep walking past them. Act natural. See how long it takes them to notice me. I bet Shannon notices first."

"Fine. I bet Sayid."

"Deal."

Smiling, Jack and Kate continued walking leisurely down the path, pretending to be deep in conversation. They walked around the bend, and there were Shannon and Sayid, walking hand in hand towards them. As they walked past, Jack gave a small nod of his head.

"Hey Sayid, Shannon."

"Hi guys," echoed Kate.

Sayid glanced at them. "Hello."

Shannon smiled at them brightly. "Hi Kate! Hi Jack!"

The two couples passed, and Jack and Kate walked a few steps then turned around, watching Shannon and Sayid walk away.

"Anyway Sayid, as I was say- Wait a minute! _Jack_?" Shannon whipped her head around, eyes widening as she saw Jack, who gave her a small wave. "Jack! Oh my God! You're back!"

"I'm back. And thanks for noticing me, Sayid." Jack added sarcastically. "Honestly, not even a second glance. That cuts deep, man."

Sayid smiled apologetically as he and Shannon rushed back towards Kate and Jack. "I am sorry, my friend. I am glad to see you though. But I was expecting a more exciting return on your part, not to just see you strolling along a path with Kate."

Jack grinned and untangled his usable arm from Kate in order to shake Sayid's extended hand. "Well, you know me…I like to keep a low profile."

Shannon smiled at him in slight disbelief. "Where the hell have you been all this time? And what happened to your wrist? It's gross!"

Kate grimaced. "That would be the work of a mad French woman."

Sayid looked shocked. "Rousseau?"

Shannon gasped. "No!"

"Yes."

"That bitch!" shrieked Shannon. "Kate we need to, like, kill her! That evil boyfriend stealer! First Sayid, now Jack! We should warn Claire, tell her to guard Charlie."

Kate nodded enthusiastically.

Jack smirked at Kate. "So I'm your boyfriend now, huh?"

Kate grinned. "Yup. Got a problem with that?"

"None whatsoever," Jack answered.

Shannon gasped again. "Oh my God! Are you two finally together! I was just kidding when I called him your boyfriend!" Kate nodded, smiling happily, and Shannon let out a high-pitched squeal before bounding forward and hugging Kate.

Jack and Sayid looked on with amused expressions as Shannon and Kate finished their hugging, jumping and squeeing. When the girly celebration was over, Sayid turned to Jack. "I can't believe that it was Rousseau."

"Oh come on Sayid, the woman is completely crazy."

"Shannon, no she is not. Danielle is just-"

"Actually man, I'm gonna have to agree with Shannon on this one," interrupted Jack. "She's actually clinically insane. She may have been different before, but now she's mentally ill. She's sick. Completely flipped a shit."

Kate and Shannon laughed at Jack's description of Rousseau. "He's come up with some _great_ nicknames for her," Kate added.

Shannon's face was a picture of delight "Oooh, what are they?"

"'Psycho-bitch' and 'the queen of darkness' were the highlights."

Even Sayid smiled at this, accepting the fact that his formerly sort-of-friend Rousseau was a kook, and Shannon yelled, "Way to go Jack!" and slapped Kate high-five.

Jack laughed. "Thank you. I try."

"So what's the whole story? We want all the juicy details."

Jack smiled at the excited look on Shannon's face. "I'll tell you, but only if you promise to tell _everyone_ at camp. I don't want to have to go through the story fifty times tomorrow."

"Day _after_ tomorrow," interjected Kate. "You're injured and exhausted, and are therefore confined to bed for at least one whole day. More than that if I can find some tranquilizers."

Jack smiled cooperatively. "Correction…I don't want to have to go through the story fifty times the day _after_ tomorrow."

Kate beamed at him.

"Jack, I solemnly swear on all that is holy that if you tell me the story, everyone at camp will know every detail by midnight tonight."

"Midnight _tonight_? That's pretty impressive, Shannon."

"I know. I'll just tell Charlie and Hurley…they'll help me."

Jack and Kate laughed. "They already know. Of course, when we left they were in the middle of an argument with Sawyer and Claire, so they'll probably be held up a while…"

"Whatever, just tell the story already!"

"Right. So when we were out hunting, Locke and I were arguing, and Charlie was singing the chorus to "You All Everybody" over and over again. It was really annoying, but we couldn't make him stop. Anyway, all of a sudden we heard gunshots. We all took off running, but ended up getting separated, Charlie and Locke going in one direction and me by myself. I was running pretty fast, and I didn't notice Rousseau's trap until I was caught in it. It was one of those damn rope things where it catches you around the ankle and hauls you up into a tree. It swung me to the side, and I hit my head on a branch or something. It knocked me out."

"Is that where the wound on the side of your head came from?" asked Sayid.

"No, that was a more recent development. The tree hit the _back_ of my head. So, when I finally came to, Rousseau was there cutting me down. I was still groggy and didn't get a chance to prepare myself for the fall. It was a pretty far distance and I landed on my wrist, which broke…obviously."

Kate looked at him in horror. "Jack, it's been broken for _two weeks_!"

Jack nodded. "Yup. So my wrist broke, and I _think_ that I yelled, but I actually don't remember because I passed out again pretty quickly. Must have been the pain or something. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in some underground cavern thing."

"The psycho's lair," added Shannon, sharing a giggle with Kate.

Jack smiled at the two women fondly before continuing. "So there I am, half-unconscious, wrist-broken, with this colossal bump on the back of my head, and in strolls Satan herself. And she starts yelling at me and asking what I assume were questions. I wouldn't know…she spent the whole time talking in French. That would have been fine, if I knew how to speak French…but I don't. So this nut is trying to interrogate me in a language I don't speak, even though we know that she speaks English perfectly well. And that's basically what we did for two weeks. She would yell at me in French, and I would yell back in English or just ignore her, which made her pretty mad. The only word I understood the whole time was 'Alex', who we know is her daughter."

"Did she…torture you at all?" asked Sayid.

Jack shrugged. "Not really. She did that thing with the electricity that you told us about, but only a couple times early on. It was the third day or something, but I lost track of time so I don't really know. The only other thing she seemed especially fond of was kicking me over and over again in the ribs…and she wears those fucking combat boots, which I grew to hate fairly quickly, being as they caused way more pain than if she had been wearing sneakers like a normal person."

"How did you escape?"

Jack smirked. "I didn't. She let me go. And, keeping in theme with the rest of this ordeal, it was completely absurd. Early this morning, she just randomly grabbed her rifle, put a bag over my head, and started dragging me through the jungle. Since I couldn't see, I rolled my ankle at some point during the walk on a tree root or something. We finally reached the beach, and she pulled the bag off and wordlessly pointed in the direction of camp. Then she handed me a bottle of water, took the butt of her rifle, and nailed me in the head with it…that would be the cause of the bleeding head wound. After she hit me, I dropped to the ground, and she just walked away, muttering in French. I think I may have blacked out for a few minutes, but then I got up and started walking. I hiked all day along the shoreline and…here I am," he finished lamely.

Sayid looked at Shannon.

Shannon looked at Kate.

Kate looked at Sayid.

They all looked at Jack…

and started laughing.

"That could be," choked out Shannon between laughs, "the stupidest, most un-dangerous captive story I have ever heard."

"Utterly bizarre," added Sayid.

Jack looked comically indignant, but joined in on the laughter after a second. "That's nice guys. Real nice." He looked to Kate for some support, but she just shook her head, tears of laughter rolling down her face.

"Sorry Jack," she said, still laughing. "But that was really anticlimactic."

Jack chuckled. "Like I said…I like to keep a low profile."

Kate hugged him gently, an apology for laughing at him. "Ready to go?" she asked.

Jack nodded. "Yeah." He turned to Sayid and Shannon. "Do you guys know where Sun is? I need her to come set my wrist for me."

"Yeah, she's at the beach helping Jin with something. You can go ahead… we'll find her and send her to the hatch."

"Thanks guys," said Kate, relieved that she wouldn't have to leave Jack's side.

Jack smiled his thanks, and together he and Kate turned and headed for the hatch.

Once they were out of earshot, Shannon squealed happily. "They are _so_ cute!" she whispered to Sayid. "Come on, we need to go tell _everyone_!" She grabbed his head and took off for the beach.

Sayid just smiled as Shannon dragged him along. Women were scary.

* * *

"I don't know what I want to do first," Jack announced happily as he and Kate entered the hatch. "Shower, eat, sleep, or down an entire bottle of painkillers." 

Kate laughed. "Decisions, decisions."

"I know. I lead an exciting life."

"How about you take a couple of aspirin, _not_ the whole bottle, and then have your shower. Sun should be here by the time you're finished, so she can set your arm. Then you can eat or sleep, whichever you prefer."

"That is an excellent idea! You're so smart!" Jack laughed, kissing Kate on the cheek. He then slid the backpack that held his change of clothes off Kate's shoulders and started heading towards the bathroom.

"Didn't you say you wanted painkillers?" Kate called after his retreating back.

Jack turned around to look at her but continued limping backwards, somehow managing to maneuver around every obstacle without tripping. "Yeah, but I might as well just wait until we fix my wrist," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Then, instead of that useless aspirin, I can use the good stuff!"

Kate laughed. "Wonderful…now you're a drug addict."

"That's me. The drug addicted spinal surgeon. With a broken wrist." Reaching the door, Jack gave a goofy bow. "And now the drug addicted spinal surgeon bids you farewell, as he is about to take the best shower of his life."

Kate giggled at his theatrics. "I think you've been hit on the head a few too many times in the past two weeks."

"That is certainly possible."

"Give a shout if you need anything, okay?"

"Will do!" Jack yelled, already closing the door behind him.

Kate sighed. She missed him. Which was ridiculous. It was incredible how attached to him she had become in the short time that he had been back. He had been out of her sight for a grand total of eleven seconds…she would see him again in about ten minutes…and she missed him. Kate sighed again. Ridiculous.

Kate plopped down onto the couch, willing either Jack to hurry up and finish, or Sun to hurry up and get there so that she would at least have someone to talk to while she waited.

After an agonizing few minutes, Kate finally heard the water turn off. A few agonizing minutes after that and she heard the bathroom door open.

"Hey Kate?"

"Hey what?" Kate smirked. She was still on the couch and he was standing in the bathroom doorway around the corner, out of her eyesight.

"Very funny. Okay, now this is gonna sound really stupid but…I can't get my shirt on one-handed."

Kate broke into laughter. "Then how did you get your other shirt off?"

"Well, I was all excited about my shower, so I sort of just yanked it over my head without thinking…which turned out to be a _very_ bad thing for my wrist. I spent the next few minutes muttering some words that I'm not going to repeat around your innocent little ears."

"Jack, I'm sure I've heard it all before."

"Probably. But I'm still not repeating myself. So…think you could help me with the shirt?"

"Of course I will."

Still laughing to herself, Kate got up and walked around the corner. There was Jack, two weeks of dirt washed away, the blood all cleaned off of his face and his hair still wet from the shower. He was standing in bare feet and just his jeans, an adorably frustrated look on his face as he glared at the offending purple shirt in his hands. Kate opened her mouth to crack a joke, but as her eyes drifted to Jack's chest, the words died in her throat.

His entire torso was covered in horrible bruising, the skin painted with a vicious pattern of black and blue marks.

Jack looked up, noticing Kate's arrival in front of him, but the smile fell from his face when he saw the shocked expression on hers. "Kate?" he asked confusedly. "What's the matter?" Kate gestured jerkily at him and Jack glanced down at his chest, suddenly remembering. "Oh…that."

"Yeah, _that_!" Kate had found her voice. "What did she do to you?"

"I told you, lots of kicking."

"You said that it wasn't that bad!"

"Kate, really, it's worse than it looks…"

"Jack, you are bruised like five different colors!"

"_Five_? No way. I only counted four."

"Jack! What is the matter with you? Why do you keep playing this down like it's nothing? Let me repeat: _You are bruised_ _five_-"

"Four!"

"_-different colors_!"

"Kate, I'm telling you, it's only four."

"Don't you think you're focusing on the wrong part of the argument?"

"We're arguing?"

Kate mouthed at him noiselessly for a moment before muttering, "You're infuriating."

Jack laughed and limped over to her, shirt still in hand. "Why are you so hung up on this?"

Anger gone, Kate looked up at him tearily. "Because you're _hurt_. And I hate that you're hurt, and I hate even more that you won't just admit to it and let me take care of you…And I also hate that I can't hug you right now because you might break into a million pieces or something."

Jack smiled gently. "I'm not going to break. I said the hugging was fine, remember? Just no poking."

Kate shook her head. "I don't want to hurt you," she whispered.

"You won't." Jack pulled Kate close to him and she laid her head on his chest, ear right above his heart so that she could listen to his heartbeat as they stood there together.

"You know," she heard him say after a moment, "it's actually _good_ that I'm bruised five different colors. It means that it's healing."

"I thought you said it was only four?"

"Four, five…whatever."

Kate shook her head as she snuggled closer to him. "You really are infuriating," she mumbled weakly.

"I know. But you love me anyway."

"This is true."

"And I love you even though you haven't helped me put my shirt on yet."

Kate laughed and pulled away, taking the hint. After all, Sun would be there any minute. She took the shirt from Jack and helped him put his arms through it, buttoning it up once it was settled on his shoulders. "Does the wound on your head need any stitches?" she asked as she straightened his collar, tugging at it until it lay flat.

"No, I looked at it in the mirror and it seems okay. Could you put a bandage on it for me though? Should probably disinfect it too, just to be safe."

"Sure. Where would I find said bandages and disinfectant?"

Jack pointed to the kitchen. "Last I saw them, they were stacked on the side table in there. But I don't know if anyone has moved them since."

"Okay. Let me help you over to the bed, and then I'll go look."

Jack smiled at Kate's need to take care of him and didn't he protest as she helped him limp over to the bunk bed. After sitting him down on the edge of the bottom bunk, Kate turned to Jack with a smirk. "Now you be a good boy and don't move while Doctor Kate goes and gets the-" Kate broke off and looked at him sheepishly. "What is Doctor Kate getting, exactly?"

Jack grinned. "Just grab the small bottle of rubbing alcohol, a couple pieces of gauze, and some medical tape."

"Right. I knew that. Be right back."

Jack laughed as Kate dashed into the kitchen, coming back a moment later with the required medical supplies. After dropping the stuff unceremoniously onto the bed next to him, Kate started to walk away again. "Let me just go grab a chair or something."

"Not necessary," replied Jack with a smile, and he promptly grabbed Kate's waist and pulled her down onto his lap.

Kate raised her eyebrows amusedly, her face mere inches from his. "But this'll work too, I guess," she said, loving being so close to him.

"See? Jack has an answer for everything."

"Don't you mean _Jackie_ has an answer for everything?"

Jack pouted. "That was just plain mean."

"Sorry," said Kate, not sounding sorry at all, "couldn't help myself." Reaching over, she picked up a piece of gauze and opened the bottle of rubbing alcohol, then poured a small amount of the strange-smelling liquid onto the white square of material. "Ready?" she asked him.

"That depends. Do I get a lollipop if I don't cry?"

Kate laughed at the look of boyish innocence on his face. "Yes Jack. You can have a lollipop if you don't cry," she answered, playing along.

"Well then I'm ready."

Kate leaned forward and dabbed at the wound on Jack's head with the saturated cloth. He winced faintly at the initial sting, but then cracked a bright smile. "Guess I get that lollipop, huh?"

Kate giggled and, finished with the disinfectant, picked up the roll of tape and a clean piece of gauze. "Guess so. It's a shame that we're on an island where there aren't any lollipops." She unwound a length of tape from the roll and stretched it taut, holding it up in the air in front of Jack's mouth.

"What kind of a sucky doctor are you? Of course there are lollipops!" Jack gripped a spot on the length of tape between his front teeth and, with a rapid jerk of his head, ripped off the piece that Kate needed.

"Oh yeah? Where?" Kate reached up and placed the gauze over Jack's cut, gently securing it with the tape.

"The third cabinet to the left above the kitchen sink, all the way in the back," he answered, smirk playing across his face.

Kate, surprised at his prompt and specific answer, was just about to retort when Jack's gaze fell over her shoulder. "Hey Sun!" he said with a grin.

Kate turned and Sun was indeed there, smiling at them kindly. For an instant, Kate thought about moving from her place on Jack's lap, but his hand was on her waist firmly and she probably couldn't have moved even if she wanted to. So instead, she echoed Jack's greeting with a smile of her own.

"It's good to see you, Jack. And it's good to see you smiling again, Kate," Sun said, a knowing grin on her face.

Kate blushed faintly and Jack laughed, dropping a kiss to Kate's shoulder. "It's good to see you too, Sun. And please tell me that someone gave you the story so that I don't have to go through it again," said Jack, a hint of desperation in his voice.

Sun laughed. "Yes, Sayid and Shannon told me the whole story; I'm glad that you are alright. They also said you that you need my assistance with an injury."

"Umm, yeah. Do you think you could help me out with _this_ mess?" asked Jack, holding up the disaster that was his wrist for emphasis. "It needs to be set, and I can't do it myself. Please?"

A flicker of uncertainty passed over Sun's face, but it passed quickly. "Of course I will help you, Jack."

Jack smiled his thanks at Sun and Kate reluctantly moved off his lap, knowing that she couldn't stay there while his wrist was being set. She moved the bandages and alcohol off of the bed and onto a side table before sitting herself down next to Jack. She smiled slightly as Jack went into doctor-mode, Sun examining his wrist gently.

"The break looks like it's clean enough. You just have to wrench it back into position. After that, it'll just take time to heal," he said.

Sun nodded. "I should be able to do that. Will you need me to splint it afterwards?"

Jack shook his head no. "There's still too much swelling for that. We'll put ice on it tonight, and hopefully the inflammation will go down. I'll decide what we're going to do with it after that."

"You could put a cast on it," Kate chimed in helpfully.

Jack chuckled. "That would be the ideal thing to do, put we don't exactly have the equipment for that."

Kate looked at him strangely. "Yes we do. Remember, there were a couple kits for making casts in the hatch medical supplies?"

Realization dawned on Jack's face. "_Oh yeah_. I completely forgot about that! I was hoping we would never have any broken bones here…so much for _that_ plan," he added dryly. "Okay. So when the swelling is down tomorrow, Kate'll help me put a cast on it."

Kate nodded emphatically. "Yeah. Kate'll- _wait a second_! _I'm_ Kate!" She looked at Jack, who laughed. Kate rolled her eyes and continued. "Seriously, _me_? Jack, I can't do it!"

"Sure you can. I'll show you how, it'll be fine." He turned to Sun. "Now let's get this over with."

Sun smiled at Jack's brave front. "Okay. I'm ready whenever you are ready."

Jack took a deep breath and clasped Kate's hand in his. "I apologize in advance for any screaming and/or crying that I do."

"Jack! Don't you dare try to act all macho. You have my and Sun's full permission to bawl like a baby." Kate smiled encouragingly at him. "We won't tell anyone. Promise."

Jack nodded resolutely. "Alright. Let's do it."

Kate squeezed Jack's hand tighter and moved her body closer to his as Sun moved forward and took Jack's wrist in her hands. After adjusting her grip, Sun looked up at him. "Ready?" she asked.

Jack nodded again, steely confidence written across his face.

"Alright." said Sun. Jack turned his head away from his wrist, his face pointed towards Kate. "On the count of three, Jack," Sun stated, as calmly as she could. "One…two…three!"

On three, Sun quickly pulled as hard as she could on Jack's wrist, forcing it straight again.

_CRACK!_

Jack gave an anguished yell and screwed his face up against the intensity of the pain, tears streaming uninhibited from under his tightly closed eyelids, his jaw clenched to keep him from screaming out again. His grip on Kate's hand had reached an almost painful level and Kate moved her hand away, sitting up on the bed on her knees and wrapping Jack in her arms. One arm went around his chest, pulling him nearly into her lap, the other up around his neck, her hand running through the hair on the back of his head soothingly. Jack buried his face at the point where Kate's neck and shoulder met, nestling as close to her as he could, needing to feel something other then the pain. His good arm clung to her, hand fisted in the hem of her shirt; his other arm and newly fixed wrist lay awkwardly in his lap. Kate felt Jack shaking, his whole body trembling from the pain, and she hugged him even tighter to her.

"I know, Jack," she whispered brokenly in his ear, her own tears choking her voice. "I know it hurts, baby. I know." She kissed his temple lovingly and then pressed her face to his soft hair, murmuring to him quietly. "It'll pass though. Sun ran to get some ice, she'll be right back. I promise it'll pass soon. Just hang on…"

Sun had indeed run to get ice, going almost the instant after she was done with Jack's wrist. She had taken all of the ice cubes from a tray and wrapped them in a clean dishtowel, creating a makeshift icepack. Sun walked swiftly back into the bedroom and over to the edge of the bed, smiling slightly at the way that Jack and Kate were clinging to each other. As gently as she could, Sun arranged the ice around Jack's wrist, doing her best not to jostle it too much.

Stepping back a bit, Sun did her best to assess the situation. Jack seemed to be doing alright, considering. He was taking deep shaky breaths of air, waiting for the pain to ease up a bit. The ice should help with that, she thought, hopefully making the wrist cold enough that it would numb slightly. Sun sighed. There wasn't much else that she could do to help. "Kate?" she said quietly. Kate looked up startled, as if she had not yet realized that Sun was back. "I think that is about all I can do for now. The wrist should be fine…it will just take a while to heal."

Kate nodded. "Okay. I'm going to go get those pills that he brought…he said before that they would help with the pain."

"I think that would be a good idea," Sun agreed.

Knowing that Jack was pretty much out of it and currently unaware of what was going on around him, Kate lowered her voice to a whisper and moved her lips back down to his ear. "Jack? I'm going to go get the pain meds for you, okay? It'll help make your arm feel better." Kate grudgingly began pulling her arms away from him, moving to get up, but Jack only held onto her tighter. "Jack? You've gotta let go, baby. I promise I'll be right back." Like a stubborn child, Jack shook his head once against her neck and used his arm to pull her closer to him, a sign that he was under no circumstances going to let her get up. Kate felt her heart melt at Jack's unexpected display of weakness and slid her arms back around him before turning to look at Sun helplessly.

Sun smiled softly. "Don't worry; I'll get them for you. Where are they?"

"In his backpack. I'm pretty sure he dropped it in the doorway of the bathroom."

Sun nodded and walked away, returning a minute later with the bottle of pills, which she handed to Kate. "I'm going to head back to the beach now, unless there is anything else that you need?"

"No, we're okay. Do you want me to walk back with you? It's probably dark by now."

"No thank you. I'm sure I will be fine; it's not a far walk. And I think you are more needed here," she added, smiling and gesturing towards Jack.

Kate grinned. "Yeah, I guess so. Thank you _so_ much for your help, Sun."

"You're welcome. I will see you tomorrow." And with another small smile, Sun had turned and left.

Kate watched Sun leave and then gave her full attention to Jack. He seemed a little better; his body wasn't shaking anymore and his breathing had calmed down noticeably.

"Is it getting any better yet?" Kate asked him moments later. Jack nodded and pulled away from her slightly, allowing Kate to see his face for the first time since Sun had set his wrist. Kate hated seeing the pained expression displayed across his features, forehead scrunched up and his jaw clamped tight.

Kate pressed her lips to the spot right below his ear, leaving a reverent kiss there. She moved her lips lower and kissed him again, and then again, working her way along the stubbled jaw towards his mouth. Jack's body relaxed under her ministrations, clenched muscles loosening as his eyes fluttered shut. Kate kissed him once on the lips firmly, warmly, before leaning back to look at him. She smiled at the peaceful look on his face and ran a finger down his cheek, causing Jack to open his eyes again. "Hey Kate?" he whispered, voice rough.

"Yeah?"

"Can I have some of those pills that you're hoarding?" he asked, corner of his mouth turning up in a weak smirk.

Kate breathed a laugh. "Of course you can. How many should you take? And don't you dare say the whole bottle, because that is not happening."

"Two's fine."

Kate reached behind her and picked up the bottle, opening the lid and shaking two white pills onto Jack's outstretched palm. "I'll go get you some water," she said, putting the medicine bottle on the floor.

"Don't bother. I don't need it." And with that, Jack dry swallowed the two capsules like it was nothing.

Kate stared at him in awe. "How did you do that?"

"Drug addicted spinal surgeon, remember?" Jack was smirking faintly again, obviously feeling better enough to crack jokes.

Kate laughed, relieved that he was feeling better, and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Don't break anymore bones, okay?" she pleaded, lips skimming his skin with every word. "Because that was awful. And I was only watching."

"I'll do my best."

Giggling, Kate pulled away. "So what now? We've covered two of the four things that were on your list, plus one painful thing that wasn't. That leaves eating or sleeping."

Jack yawned. "Definitely sleeping…I'm exhausted. I'll eat tomorrow. You owe me a cherry lollipop anyway."

"Who said it's gonna be cherry? That was never part of the deal. You just said 'a lollipop'. I can give you whichever flavor my little heart desires." Kate smirked. She loved teasing him.

"We'll see about that."

"Yeah. _Tomorrow_, since you're gonna sleep now. Should we put ice on your ankle or your ribs?"

Jack shook his head. "Nah. Screw it. Too cold."

"It's _ice_, Jack. It's supposed to be cold."

"I know. But I've already got some on my wrist, which is bad enough. I hate being cold. Maybe I'll but some on my ankle tomorrow if it's not better…since you're not going to let me get up anyway."

"Damn straight."

Jack laughed at the finality in her voice. "But I'm _not_ putting it on my ribs. Much too cold. It's inhuman"

"You're such a sissy."

"I know. But ice makes me want to cry. And I just did enough of that to last me awhile. Like forever." He sent her a beaming smile and Kate rolled her eyes, trying and failing to bite back a smile.

"Alright," she said after a moment, getting up and heading towards the light switch. "Let me go turn off the lights so you can get some sleep."

"_We_!" Jack called after her retreating back.

"What?"

"Go turn off the lights so _we_ can get some sleep. You're gonna sleep too." Jack watched as Kate flicked the light switch on the wall. The room went dusky with pale light still coming in from the other room, but Jack didn't care; he was so tired that he would have had no trouble sleeping even if the lights had remained on.

"Oh really?" Kate raised an eyebrow at him as she walked back across the room.

"Yes really. Hurley told me that you haven't been sleeping much recently. But you're going to sleep tonight. Doctor's orders." Jack gave her his glowing smile again, and Kate knew she was helpless to refuse…not that she would have refused him anyway; she was in desperate need of some rest.

"Well, if it's the doctor's orders…guess I don't have much choice, do I?" said Kate, feigning opposition to Jack's proposal.

"Nope. The doctor's a smart guy...you'd best listen to him." Jack's lips turned up in a smirk and he lay back on the bed, his eyes closing in bliss the second his head hit the pillow. "Okay, it's official; I'm never getting up."

Kate smiled at the serene look on Jack's face. "Never ever?" she questioned with a smile, unable to resist teasing him slightly.

"Never _ever_. Way too comfortable."

Laughing, Kate moved over to the ladder that led to the top bunk and put her foot on the bottom rung. The structure squeaked when she put her weight on it, causing Jack's eyes to shoot open.

"Woah, hey, what are you doing?"

Kate looked at him strangely. "I'm going to sleep, remember?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "I know _that_. I meant what are you going to the top bunk for?" He pouted and gave her puppy dog eyes. "Aren't you gonna stay with me?"

"Jack, I don't think there's enough room." Kate hated the words coming out of her mouth; of course she wanted to stay with him, but the bed was small and she felt that he should have the extra space due to his injuries. Kate knew she would give in without much persuasion though…the pleading look on his face was nearly too much for her to handle.

"We'll make room." Jack held out his hand to her. "We'll just have to squeeze _reeeally_ close together," he added with a grin.

Kate, to neither of their surprise, relented. Taking Jack's outstretched hand, she allowed him to pull her to the side of the bed.

"Take off your shoes," Jack said, a teasing smile playing on his lips. "Can't have you kicking me and ruining my beauty sleep."

Kate laughed and kicked off her shoes and socks before looking at Jack expectantly.

"What?" he asked.

"You kind of need to scoot over."

"Actually, it'd be better if I stay on this side. So that my bad arm is on the outside instead of in the middle."

Agreeing with this logic, Kate walked to the foot of the bed and, after moving carefully over Jack's legs, crawled up the bed until she was lying next to him, sharing the one pillow with their faces close together. "This good?" Kate whispered, running her fingertips gently down the side of Jack' face.

Jack grinned. "Almost." He slid his arm under Kate's waist and pulled towards him until every inch of her body was touching his. "That's better," he breathed as Kate rested her cheek on his chest, the top of her head tucked comfortably under his chin.

"Goodnight Jack," Kate whispered.

"Mmm…g'night," Jack mumbled, speech punctured by a yawn. "Sleep well, because I'll probably drive you crazy tomorrow. You see, my doctor put me on bed rest and I'm not very good at doing nothing. Oh, and I'll be collecting on the candy that you owe me…" Jack's words trailed off while his eyes closed again, already starting to fall asleep.

Kate giggled as her eyes fluttered shut, her arm slung loosely over Jack's stomach, fingers sliding up just under the hem on his shirt to rest on the warm skin of his hip. She sighed happily as her body drifted into sleep, mind content with tomorrow's promise of the man she loved and cherry lollipops.

* * *

**You made it through the chapter alive! …provided you weren't suffocated by the fluff… Lol! So. Good? Bad? Let's hear it, people!**

**Also…this may be the end. **

**GASP!**

**I might continue, but I am thinking on new stories and have got a couple good (I hope) ideas in the planning stage. But who knows? I may add another chapter or two onto this before I start something new.**

**Some reviews should help convince me! ...cough hint!hint! cough…**

**Thanks for reading!**


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